“A whitewashed curriculum? The construction of race in contemporary PE curriculum policy” by Fiona Dowling and Anne Flintoff is an article from 2018 that explains their views on curriculum while also stating all of the disadvantages for non-white students in the curriculum. Dowling and Flitnoff view curriculum as a process. They state that they acknowledge that the curriculum is not simply an object but teachers’ readings and interpretations of a text lead to processes and outcomes in the classroom. They also acknowledge that each reader of the curriculum is situated differently and that they have a range of biographical experiences, skills, and resources that shape how they interpret the curriculum.
Dowling and Flintoff mention how the local and indigenous sports of most areas are marginalized in the physical education curriculum, as they have been globally because of colonialism. In their article, they emphasize that Indigenous cultural practices are mainly taught in schools with majority Indigenous students, and that non-Indigenous schools do not see them as valuable knowledge. They also explain how “whiteness” is in a way invisible and a neutral category that does not need naming. It is as if white is society’s default. This is why the white experience and knowledge is universalized and applied to everyone. Society often does not take other races into account. This is very much prevalent in the curriculum. One of the many examples is seen in the physical education curriculum in the dance section. First nations dances are only mentioned once while there are multiple other types of dances mentioned multiple times that would be considered to be “white”, such as square dancing or creative dancing.
Going forward with my critical summary assignment I would like to find articles that view curriculum in different ways such as curriculum as a product or praxis. I would also like to find articles that have different arguments for why race is not represented properly in the curriculum. Although finding viable articles that are also peer reviewed is hard I believe that someone has spoken up about the problems considering race and curriculum. I am excited to explore what people have to say about race and the curriculum and find better insights into just how much non-white people are left out of the curriculum. It is truly disgraceful that our curriculum is still leaving out whole races but I am hopeful that it will change for the better in the future.
Dowling, F., & Flintoff, A. (2018, January). A whitewashed curriculum? The construction of race in contemporary PE curriculum policy. Sport, Education, and Society, 23(1), 1-13. Tandofline. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www-tandfonline-com.libproxy.uregina.ca/doi/epdf/10.1080/13573322.2015.1122584?needAccess=true&role=button
Hi Zoe, I thoroughly enjoyed your summary. The summary that you have written is well-written and I feel gives me a well-explained summary of the text. You could also possibly find an article on why people think the curriculum should not change (focusing more on the traditionalist views). Overall it was a great summary that was strongly written and understood.